This week, the Softies -- specifically, Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner -- mentioned machine learning again. This time it was in the context of the top eight tech trends he and other Microsoft execs see driving the industry and Microsoft. (The other seven: Cloud, explosion of data, social computing, natural user interfaces, mobility/connectivity, and the consumerization of IT.)

The specific technology highlighted this week at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference as an example of machine learning technology is the Microsoft Translator Hub. The Translator Hub is commercially available, as of this week.

The Hub allows for customized automatic translation between any two languages. It is built around a self-service model, meaning users can train and customize it for their particular needs. The Hub is actually a Windows Azure cloud service that allows users to upload language data and build and dploy custom translation models. These are then accessible using the Microsoft Translator APIs or widgets.

What's the partner angle? "Developers and partners are incorporating Microsoft Translator’s application programming interface (API) to build even more translation tools and services," according to the company.

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